NEW YORK—Adult star Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday in a highly-anticipated moment in the criminal trial against former President Donald Trump.
On the ninth official day of testimony, Daniels, who alleges that she had an affair with Trump in 2006, recollected details of her encounter, prompting Judge Juan Merchan to cut her off several times due to the sexually explicit nature of her testimony.
She was visibly flustered throughout much of her testimony. During cross-examination, for example, attorneys representing Trump accused her of selling her story just to make money.
“My motivation wasn’t money,” she said in testimony. It was motivated out of fear, not money.” Trump's attorney, Susan Necheles, pressed Daniels on whether she hated Trump. The AVN Hall of Famer said she did hate Trump and wanted to see him held accountable. However, Necheles continued to press Daniels on whether she earned money from telling her story, as in the following exchange:
Necheles: “A story about President Trump that doesn’t include sex will make you no money, right?”
Daniels: "It taught me that I should tell the truth."
Necheles: "In other words, it taught you that if you wanted to make money off of President Trump, you better talk about the sex."
Daniels: "No, although that does seem to be the case."
Necheles also pointed to Daniels' recent documentary Stormy for the NBCUniversal-owned streaming platform Peacock. While Daniels maintains that she wasn't paid to appear in the documentary, the film's production company paid her $125,000 to license her book and other materials. Daniels said she's only received $100,000 so far.
Daniels also confirmed that she owes Trump $560,000 in legal fees. For context, Daniels maintains that her former attorney, Michael Avenatti, filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump in 2018 without her permission. A federal court didn't buy that claim and she was saddled with paying for legal fees Trump reportedly expended in his defense.
This was a flashpoint for Necheles during her cross-examination of Daniels. Accounts of the testimony suggest that Necheles was "nearly shouting" at Daniels, asking, "You didn't pay anything out of your pocket, did you?!" Necheles was referring to the legal fees that Daniels owes Trump.
Judge Merchan halted Necheles and ordered her to allow Daniels to answer her question.
Necheles proceeded and presented a defense exhibit of a post Daniels made on Twitter, now X, on March 21, 2022, which read: "I will go to jail before I pay a penny." In response, Daniels told Necheles: "[That] is me saying I will not pay for telling the truth."
Counsel for Trump motioned for a mistrial, but Merchan shot it down. During Daniels' testimony, Trump was visibly frustrated and muttered "bullshit."
It is worth noting that even Judge Merchan expressed concerns about the credibility surrounding Daniels' testimony. But, this isn't the key point of the case. While Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on charges stemming from Daniels' affair, the 34 felony charges deal with falsifying documents related to paying off Daniels.
Evidence presented by the prosecutors revealed how Trump's former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 as part of a catch-and-kill scheme to silence criticism or damaging stories surrounding the president on the 2016 campaign trail.
Cohen, who has already been convicted of federal crimes, created a shell corporation to funnel money through to circumvent potential legal and regulatory scrutiny. For his work related to paying off Daniels, the Trump Organization compensated the former attorney $420,000 to cover reimbursements, legal fees, technical fees, a bonus and taxes.
Prosecutors presented a damning paper trail showing a concerted effort to present Cohen's work in paying off Daniels as typical legal services. Former Trump Organization finance executives testified that Cohen's total compensation was broken down into monthly payments of up to $35,000 as a "retainer" for his services.
This was also presented as a means to distance Cohen's services related to the hush money paid to Daniels. It was also revealed previously that Trump or his sons would personally sign any check that totaled more than $10,000.
Prosecutors also entered into evidence passages from Trump's books. They heard brief testimony from Sally Franklin, the senior vice president and executive managing editor of publishing giant Penguin Random House, which published his books through its Ballantine Books division.
